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Academies of Medicine

The purposes of the AAPS affiliated Academies of Medicine are to:

• Promote the highest intellectual, moral, and ethical standards of practice within the specialty;
• Promote and provide continuing education for members;
• Promote study, research, and improvement of the specialty;
• Recognize excellence through awards to Diplomate members (Physician of the Year and Degree of Fellow); and
• Elect members to the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) affiliated Boards of Certification for the specialty.

Enrollment in the Specialty Academy of Medicine
Academies are the fundamental units in which new physician members become a part of the larger organization and come into contact with other AAPS members who share similar, if not identical, interests in a field of medicine and become a part of the larger organization. AAPS bylaws require that the "Association shall enroll each person accepted as a member of the Association as a member of the affiliated Academy which represents most closely the member's area of practice and interests." New members may be assigned to more than one academy based upon their training and experience.

Diplomate Members
Diplomate members are members of the academy who have been certified by the ABPS Board of Certification in the same specialty. Upon achieving Diplomate status, members enjoy privileges not available to other academy members. Diplomate members may be elected to serve as an Officer or Governor of their Academy and in this capacity they can vote for members of the ABPS Board of Certification in their specialty. In addition, only Diplomates may be selected by their Academy to receive the Physician of the Year award or to receive the Degree of Fellow.

Council of Academy Presidents
The Council of Academy Presidents (CAP) is composed of the presidents of each Academy and provides a forum for presidents to meet and explore issues facing the association and to devise concerted strategies and responses to those issues. The roles of the CAP include to:

• Oversee and guide the direction of the professional academies recognized by and affiliated with the association to facilitate each academy's promotion of the highest intellectual, moral, and ethical standards in the practice of the medical specialty or specialties represented by the respective academies;
• Establish criteria and make recommendations to the AAPS Board of Directors with respect to the creation, recognition, and affiliation of other professional academies;
• Establish, with the approval of the AAPS Board of Directors, standards for the use of the professional academies in awarding the Degree of Fellow; and
• Advise and inform the AAPS Boards of Directors of initiatives and activities related to the educational and professional purposes of the academies.

Promotion of State-Based Activity
A state-based member initiative was launched in the Fall of 2002 by the Council of Academy Presidents, who believe that some issues facing members might be better resolved via communication within a state than through specialty-based groups. These state-based activities will complement, not replace or compete with, specialty-based academy activities. Therefore, the academy presidents have taken the lead in contacting members in their home states to encourage communication. Working primarily by email, AAPS members will have the ability to share solutions to problems that others may also face. The second phase of the initiative will be for other academy officers to contact members in their states, thus multiplying the number of states and members involved.